Leaders from South Korea, China and Japan yesterday reaffirmed their goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, during a rare summit at which they also agreed to deepen trade ties.
The summit brought together South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul for the countries’ first trilateral talks in nearly five years, partly due to the COVID-19, pandemic but also to once-sour ties.
While North Korea was not officially on the agenda, hours before the leaders met Pyongyang announced that it would soon put another spy satellite into orbit — a move that contravenes rafts of UN sanctions barring it from tests using ballistic technology.
Photo: EPA-EFE
At a joint press conference, Yoon and Kishida urged North Korea to call off the launch, with the South Korean leader saying it would “undermine regional and global peace and stability.”
Yoon also called for a “decisive” international response if Kim went ahead with his fourth such launch — aided by what Seoul claims is Russian technical assistance in exchange for Kim sending Moscow arms for use in Ukraine.
However, China, North Korea’s most important ally and economic benefactor, remained notably silent on the issue, with Li not mentioning it during the briefing.
In a joint statement issued after the talks, the countries reaffirmed their commitment to the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” adding that peace “serves our common interest and is our common responsibility.”
Pyongyang hit back immediately, saying in a statement by a North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson that “to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula today constitutes a grave political provocation.”
The three countries yesterday also announced that they would arrange “discussions for speeding up negotiations for a Trilateral FTA [free-trade agreement],” and boost three-way cooperation, including holding summits on a regular basis.
Li also said they had agreed on not turning “economic and trade issues into political games or security matters, and rejecting protectionism as well as decoupling or the severing of supply chains,” Xinhua news agency reported.
After their talks, Yoon, Li and Kishida joined a business summit aimed at boosting trade between the countries, which was also attended by top industry leaders.
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